


If you need me

by Indefiance



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Adoption, Camp Counselor Max (Camp Camp), Camper David (Camp Camp), Coping, F/M, Loss of Parent(s), Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-30
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-01-13 09:02:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21241556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Indefiance/pseuds/Indefiance
Summary: After camp, max goes home back to his normal life. Everything changes when one of his campers shows up at his doorstep.





	1. Oh i did say that.

**Author's Note:**

> So I out this fanfiction on my old account, but that account was hacked. So I'm putting it out again with some minors changes and hopefully fewer mistakes. Please enjoy. I'm still trying to update it. But yeah. Please stay tuned. Sorry it took me so l9ng to get around to this.

It had been about three month since camp ended and things were back to normal for Max. Back to working some shitty retail job that he hated living in a cheap, honestly shady, apartment complex.

It was sunday morning when Max woke with a splitting headache to loud continuous knocking. His hand ran through the thick patch of curly hair covering the top of his head as he sat up with a pained frustrated growl. He briefly glanced over at the sleeping form in his bed next to him. He sighed as he stood up from his bed stretching. Bending over to pick up the boxers from his floor, he covered himself to make himself decent before putting a stop to the seemingly endless knocking. “im on my way jesus christ!” he shouted toward the door.

Practically stumbling to the front door of his apartment, he rips it open in frustration, ending the knocking. “what the hell do you w” Caught off guard by the vaguely familiar child standing at his door, he loses his train of thought. The freckled faced redhead speaks up interrupting the man's confusion. “hello Maxwell. It's me Davey. May I come in?”

The man thought for just a moment, peeked his head further out the door, and scanned the area to see if anyone was around. He sighed, dragging his hand down his face at a loss for words before throwing a half hearted “yeah sure come in” and walking back inside, leaving the door open behind him for his guest. Davey follows behind, closing the door before catching up with Max.

Max yells to the other room, flopping back into his dingy couch “Hey Clarissa put some clothes on before leaving the room, I have a guest!”. He then pulls on some jeans that had been slung over the back of the couch before turning to Davey who was sat beside him on the couch. “alright now, what the hell are you doing here? How did you even find me?!” Max says frustrated, rubbing his temples. Davey looks down at his twiddling thumbs in his lap, put off by Max's harsh impatient tone. “You told me to find you if i ever need you. Remember?”

Max's rolls his eyes. “What the hell are you…” he trailed off thinking back to a night when he was just this side of tipsy, from some mystery substance he found in the quarter store, and a bit overly emotional about the brat he'd grown to pity for the dismissive home life he'd picked up on, assumed really. He groans and brushes his hair back swearing to himself. “god damnit.”

Max and Davey look back to a door to see Max's lady friend walking out and staring back at them. She smiles and walks up to Davey. “And who's this handsome little man?” Max rolls his eyes again “i'll explain later. Let me just… figure this out first. I'll talk to you later” She rolls her eyes back. “okay. Guess i'll leave. Bye Max.” she ruffles Davey's hair on her way to the door. “bye little man.”

Max snaps bringing Davey's attention back to him. “alright. So why are you here? I doubt your parents know you're here. Mainly because if they did id probably have the fucking cops breaking in my door.” Both look back at the front door for a moment. “seriously. You really shouldn't be here Davey. What's going on?” Max tries to sound less annoyed and more concerned… but still falls short. Davey looks at his lap again and shrugs forlorn “I… don't wanna talk about right now…”

Max exhales dramatically, running his hand through his hair stiffly. “ooooh my god it's too fucking early for this, Davey, you're not making this easy for me.” Max stands up with an equally dramatic inhale. “alright fine whatever. I have to get to work. Fucking stay here. If the cops find you, tell them you broke in. I'll figure it out while I'm at work.” Max throws on his dingy blue polo shirt and name tag, pulls on his old chucks, and grabs his keys before heading to the door. Before leaving he turns back to Davey and sighs. “there's ramen and shit for peanut butter and jelly in the kitchen. Don't drink all my soda.” with that he leaves david alone in his apartment.

\-----------------------------

Davey stayed seated in his spot on the couch for a good 15 minutes looking at his hands. Eventually he gets bored and hops up to explore the cramped apartment. He looks around the living room. The dingy couch he was sitting on, a cheap coffee table, the vinyl peeling up in circles from cold cups being sat on it, no tv…

He walks over to the kitchen space, only separated from the living room by a bar. In the kitchen is an old fridge, a stove, and a microwave. The stove is filthy. Like it hasn't been used in years. He goes to assess the fridge finding half a gallon of milk, a few loose cans of dr pepper, one bottle of cheap looking beer, grape jelly, and a few tupperware boxes of leftover food… beside the fridge is a little door, he opens it and finds bread, peanut butter, ramen, and various cans of soup.

He decides to forgo checking out the bathroom for the moment if the kitchen was any indicator of the up keep in the house.

He instead goes to the only bedroom in the house that the lady had come from. As soon as he goes in he notices a distinct stale clothes smell. It wasn't overpowering but not very pleasant. Looking around he sees an old queen sized bed on a rather plain bed frame, taking up most of the small bedroom. The area rug desperately needs vacuumed.

Standing there staring at the bed, Davey feels the logical thing to do is to see how comfortable the unmade bed is. The mattress is worn and lumpy. He's almost surprised that there's a sheet on the bed, dirty though it may be. He thinks the bed would be more comfortable if it were made properly. After fighting the blankets to lay them down neatly, he climbs under and lays down. Much more comfortable.

Before Davey knows it, he's woken up by a door slamming shut. He quickly jumps off the bed, making sure to straighten the blanket before leaving the room.

\-------------------

Max comes in and hangs his keys on a hook protruding from the door frame as always and flops on the couch. He looks around a sighs. “Davey? You still here?” he sees his bedroom door creep open and dark red hair peek out before the child attached follows behind. “I'm still here. How was work?” Max snorted. “it sucked. Like always. But what we really need to figure out is why you're here? Why don't…” he really didn't want to just tell the kid to go home… he did tell him to find him if he needs to. There's gotta be a reason he's here. He sighs. “Davey, do me a solid and go get that beer from the fridge”

Davey runs from his place at the door to the small kitchen and fetches the beer bottle like he was asked, handing it to Max before he sat beside him. Max looks back to him, opening his beer and taking a long sip from it. “this the last one?” Davey nods. Max gives a little groan, not really upset enough to put any weight behind it. “oh well. I get paid wednesday.” he sits back and scrolls through various social media sites on his phone, Davey watches him, peeking over at Max's phone with him.

About an hour goes by like that, Max switching between social media, games, and reading random political articles occasionally sipping from his drink until it's empty. Really just distracting himself from the obvious present issue. He'll handle it later. Its fine. After Noticing the time in the corner of his phone, he stands up, stretching his arms in the air with a content groan and looks back to Davey. “welp, I'm going to bed.” and heads to his room.

Davey follows after. “oh um… Maxwell? where do i sleep?” Max throws back to him as he enters his room “on the couch or something. I dunno. Did you make my bed?”

Davey really didn't want to sleep on the couch. It smelt like cigarettes and sweat… “yes. I thought you might sleep better in a made bed. I know I always do.” Davey looks at Max hopeful and expectant.

Max shot Davey a look at the not so subtle hint of where he wanted to sleep. “Well thanks. I'll let you know in the morning if i do. G'night runt.” Max tries to close the door behind him but is stopped by a small sneaker. “dude. What?”

Davey looks almost frustrated but like he's still trying to be polite and not let out his bratty nature. His hands are in fists, arms locked at his side defiantly. “Well… can't i maybe sleep in the bed too? I don't want to sleep on the couch. And i made the bed! Isn't that only fair?”

Max rolls his eyes. “Okay, one, i didn't tell you to make my bed, two, life isn't fair, and three, the last thing i need is the fucking cops to break in my apartment looking for you and finding you in my bed! What don't you get about this?!” The more he explained, the louder and more angry he got. He really didn't mean to get so frustrated… but he didn't know how else to handle this situation.

Davey recoiled at the yelling. Max felt bad and sighed. “god damnit… fucking… fine come in. Just stay on the far end of the bed. Don't touch me. Jesus christ. Not going to jail for this shit.” Davey seemed to perk up, still quiet. Max is just going to tell himself its from being tired and not still being sad at being yelled at.

Max normally slept in his boxers or just nude… but something told him that was a bad idea. So he dug around in his closet for some old pajama pants and just wore those and an under shirt. That also made him consider the kid who apparently was sharing his bed tonight. Oh well. If he didn't have pjs, he'd just have to sleep in his clothes. Not his damn problem.

Max climbed into his newly made bed. Davey was right. It is more comfortable. Doesn't Mean Max is about to waste his time making it every morning. Still nice. He feels Davey crawl in beside him but ignores him, leaning over to plug his phone in, setting it on the rim of the bed frame after putting on his lofi hip-hop beats to study/sleep to youtube channel. Now he can lay back and forget about this shitty day and be refreshed for tomorrow's shitty day.

Davey blushed and looked away when he noticed Max changing. He hadn't thought to bring pajamas. He hadn't thought to bring a lot of important things… dang it… he took off his shoes and sat them next to the bed close to the wall and stuck his socks inside before climbing into bed. He wriggled around careful not to be too close to Max but also trying to get comfy. The quiet music Max put on was pretty soothing. He focused on that and not the swirling ocean of thoughts in his mind and soon fell asleep


	2. Party hardy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maxs friends show up.

That morning Davey woke up around eight absolutely starving. He looked beside him where Max was still fast asleep. He thought about waking him, then thought better of it and decided to go make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He hopped out of bed and headed into the kitchen.

Feeling the bed move, Max stir awoke and sat up with a stretch and a yawn. He looked around not seeing Davey anywhere. “Davey?” He checked his phone as he stood up. “Oh its monday. Davey?!” He half rushed out of his room to see Davey sitting at the bar with a sandwich and a soda. “yes Maxwell?” Davey answered back after swallowing his mouthful of sandwich. “Davey don't you have school or something? I mean if your parents have yet to notice you're not there for whatever reason, im sure your teachers will.. I don't know?” Davey could see the panic hidden behind Max's face, though he tried not to show.

Davey shrugged and looked at his feet. “I don't… no one will notice. Don't worry… I was homeschooled.” Max was pretty sure Davey was lying to him. But nobody came to his door and he hasn't heard anything on the news yet. So… guess nobody's looking for him. God he really should call the cops or something. That'd be the responsible thing to do.

Max shrugged. “if you say so runt.” He ruffled Davey's hair as he walked past him into the kitchen. He dug in the fridge for a Tupperware of cold spaghetti and popped it in the microwave for a minute before he sat down next to Davey at the bar to eat his breakfast.

Max looked down at Davey and quirked an eyebrow. “soooo… what's your plan here kiddo?” Davey cocked his head. “what do you mean?” Max turned on his chair to fully face Davey, his arm propping his face up on the bar.   
“I mean, you showed up, you won't tell me why you ran away, aaaand… what are we doing here? Like… what? You planning on moving in or something? Things go south in a high stakes game of Connect four and need to lay low for a while?”

“I…” Davey looked lost. He sat his sandwich down and stared at Max's face. “I… don't know. Can… can i just stay here until I do?” his eyes were pleading. Max felt a thick lump is his throat at the fear and uncertainty he saw in Davey. Damn… He scratched at the back of his shaved head uncomfortably looking at the ceiling. “ah.. uh… yeah. Sure. But...only for a little while alright?” He patted Davey's shoulder and gave him and expectant look.

Davey nodded and gave a weak smile and thumbs up. “alright Maxwell. Thank you.” Max patted his shoulder again trying to reassure him. “alright. Good. No problem Davey” Max checked his phone for the time. “damn i need to get ready for work.” With that Max grabbed the rest of Davey's sandwich and ran in his room to gather clothes, then heading to the bathroom with clothes and no sandwich.

Davey shrugged and started eating the rest of Max's spaghetti.

Eventually Max leaves the bathroom clean and dressed for work in jeans and the same blue polo from yesterday. His hair looked even more messy from vigorous towel drying. As he sits down to put his socks and shoes on, he looks up to Davey, still sitting at the bar picking at the leftover spaghetti. “alright so i'm only gonna be at work for like four hours today. So. Yeah I'll be back soon. Do you need me to pick anything up?” Davey thought for a moment. “uuuuh maybe some cereal if that's alright.” Max nodded. “alrighty. Later squirt” Max shot finger guns at david on his way out the door.

\--------------------------

After Davey finished the spaghetti he put the empty Tupperware in the sink and sat on the couch bored. He sat trying to figure how to entertain himself for four hours while Max was at work. He had to find something fun to do because sitting around trying to figure out his current situation made Davey sick to his stomach. He doesn't know what he's doing. He's just a kid. He left when things back home went bad. Just left without thinking about it. Goodness he should think things through more. Max seems like he's trying so hard to be okay with this. Sure he told Davey to find him if he needed to. But now he's saying he can only stay here for so long.. But he didn't specify exactly how long. Maybe if he's real helpful Max will let him stay.

Davey was suddenly startled from his panicked train of thought by a loud knocking at the door. That's weird. Can't be Max because he wouldn't knock on his own door. Davey bit his nail from anxiety. Who the heck was at the door? Davey quietly approached the door and jumped at another set of loud knocking followed by a man's voice. “Hello? Max? You there?” Davey both felt somewhat relieved and more scared that this man knows Max. His stomach flipped when he saw the doorknob jiggle. At least Max locked the door. Davey hadn't thought to do anything like that. He just assumed he'd be safe with a big grumpy guy like Max. Davey sure didn't want to upset him.

Davey listened closely and heard the man speaking more softly. “guess he's not home. Didn't think he worked today.” He heard another voice talking to the first. “dude lets just surprise him. Anyone got a key?” “No but i know he keeps a spare under the matt.” “woooow what an original hiding spot. That's not the first place literally every burglar checks.” “Don't be a dick. It's not like he's gonna put a potted plant outside his door.”

Davey listened to the people outside the door until he heard the door unlocking and dashed towards Max's bedroom to hide in the closet. He pressed his ear to the door to listen carefully. He was pretty sure there were at least three guys in Max's apartment. He could hear glass bottles being set on the bar. Guess It's a surprise party. Davey starts feeling more and more like he shouldn't be there. The men don't sound mean. But he can't help feeling scared.

He sat in the closet for probably forty minutes or so just listening and rummaging through Max's stuff and was getting antsy. He wanted to go see what was going on but golly he was scared of these men that he doesn't know. He whined frustrated, probably louder than he intended to. Then heard one of them men sush the other two. “did you hear that?” “no? What is it ``''i don't know. It sounded like a dog. Did Max get a dog?” Davey felt like throwing up.

He could hear a set of footsteps approaching, the bedroom door open, and the footsteps stop in the room. The man whistled and kissed in the air. “c’mere buddy” he heard another man call to the first man. “you're hearing shit man. There's no dog here.” “i know i heard something.” Davey stepped back further into the closet and tripped on some shoes thudding against the back of the closet. He heard the man choke out a triumphant laugh. “hah! Right there.” he opened the closet door and david tucked his knees to his chest trying to hide. “ come here little g- what the hell?” the man reached in the closet and picked david up by the back of his shirt and lifted him out of the closet. The man shouted to his friends. “It's a kid! I fucking told you i heard something!” then he looked to Davey. “What the hell are you doing here kid?”

The other two men joined them in Max's room staring at him. Davey wanted to cry and just disappear. These men scared him. Mostly because he didnt know them and they didnt know him. They were all staring. Waiting for an answer. “hello?” the man holding him by the shirt gave him a light shake to get his attention but it just made Davey start to choke up.

One of the men smacked the one holding him on the back of the head. “Dude don't shake him your freaking him out. Look he's about to cry” and he did. The simple fact of it being pointed out and feeling trapped and studied. He covered his face and cried into his hands. The man holding him up set him down on the bed. “you dont fucking shake kids idiot.” the same one from before scolded the first man.

He sat next to David and tried to calm him. “sh hey kid calm down.” he turned to one of the other two. “dude call Max and ask him if he knows anything about the crying child we found in his closet.” the man sitting next to him patted his back shushing him until he stopped crying and introduced himself. “there see. It's alright. Im Craig.” Davey siffed and whipped his face on his arm.” “I'm Davey.” “alright Davey. Nice to meet you. Now what are you doing here?” Davey looked down. “I don't wanna talk about it…”

One of the other two finally got up with Max. “uh.. so we stopped by your place. No we just used the spare. Damn. Yeah anyway… like… do you know anything about the crying nine year old boy we found in your closet? Hahahahah dude. So he's just… I dunno man. Just seems a bit fishy dude. Well you can say that all you want but i'm not the guy with a crying *eleven* year old boy in my closet.Alright.yeah fuck you too.haha Alright later.”

The other two look at the one who called Max expectantly. “Alright. Little Davey here was one of his campers this summer. He doesn't really know why he's here either apparently. But he's just been staying here since yesterday. Anyway, Max is on his way. Also he said he'd appreciate if you guys kept this on the down low till further notice. I already told him how creepy it is but he didn't seem to care.” he then offered his hand to Davey. “I'm Danny and the guy in the doorway over there is Randy . Sorry for shaking you.” Davey shook his hand and spoke quietly, still nervous about these men he doesn't know. “its fine.”

The three men return to the living room and invite Davey to join them. They all pile on the couch, Davey is stuck between Craig and Randy. Eventually after some chatting and some mild pressing on Davey to better explain the situation, Danny gets up to make everyone drinks. He handed everyone their basic ass rum and coke, handing Davey a plain coke in the same nice cups the other men are drinking from. Davey is starting to warm up to these men. They seem nice for the most part. If not a tad intrusive.

After about fifteen minutes Max walks through the door and is handed a drink. “thanks for breaking into my house guys. Super neat thing to do.” Max says flatly but accepts the drink and sits down in the beanbag. “always” randy shoots back. “at least you brought gifts.” Max notices Davey wedged between his friends gingerly sipping from his cup. “you didn't give Davey alcohol did you?” Danny pipes up “hell yeah thought we’d get little man here crunk. Ain't that right little man?” he reaches over Randy to give him a light noogy. Davey laughs awkwardly. Craig explains calmly “No Max we did not give him alcohol. Hah though honestly I'm surprised you care. Didn't you start drinking at like 10?”

Max rolls his eyes at his dumb friends and takes a long drink from his glass. “yeah i started about his age but still. Besides Davey is a good kid.” Max looked at Davey and sighed. “I dunno. What do you think Davey? Do you want some? Hell, you're grown enough to track me down without being murdered.” Craig, Danny, and Randy all exchanged a look before staring at Davey awaiting his response. Davey's skin was crawling being stared at again. Gosh he really didn't want to say the wrong thing in front of all Max's friends. He had never even thought about drinking alcohol before he was an adult. But if Max thinks he's mature enough it should be okay. “uh… sure. Yes please.”

Max gave a light hearted half smile and got up to fetch the rum and poured a small about into the remainder of Davey's coke and ruffled his hair. “Now remember to go slow alright?” He nodded to Max before taking a sip. It didn't taste too much different but he could definitely taste it.  
Danny piped up again. “oh come on Max, don't baby him. He's a big guy i'm sure he can handle it.” Max retorted shortly “well when you feel like both cleaning up kid barf and taking care of a hangover eleven year old, then I'll loosen up on him getting shitfaced. Kay?” Danny shrugs and nods in agreement.

Craig takes a sip from his drink and sets his cup down. He leans back further in the couch and rests his arms over the back of it. “So… what is the game plan here? Is Davey just going to live with you? Like… what are you gonna do with this kid?” “wow way to talk about a kid like he's not even in the room” “hey fuck off Danny. He can contribute to the conversation. It's not like i picked him up by the shirt and shook him”

Danny just flipped him off and made himself another drink. Max rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortable and searching for an answer. “shit man. I dunno. I'll figure it out.” He waved to Danny. “hey man can you get me one while your at it?” “sure” Craig gave him a skeptical look but shrugged it off. “alright man. Lemme know if i can help.” Craig patted Davey's head. “that goes for you too bud.” Davey nodded up at him, sipping more of his drink. “thank you.”

Max lays back further in his bean bag and stares at the ceiling with a long exhale as Danny sits back down setting Max's drink on the table near him. “Thanks man” “no prob”

As the night goes on the four men continue to drink and Davey gets one more weak cup along with them. Max and Craig both try to keep an eye on Davey. He only really seems tired, doesn't make too much contribution to conversation. But that's not too unexpected. Eventually Max's friends head home leaving just the two. Max's gets up and sits next to Davey.

“Hey buddy. How's it goin?” Max rests a hand on Davey’s shoulder. Davey looks up at him and frowns. Max tenses uncomfortably. “ uh… Davey? You okay?” He rubs Davey’s shoulder trying to comfort him. Davey’s lip quivers and he starts to cry. Max rips his hand back startled and uncomfortable by the crying.   
He looks around trying to figure out what to do before awkwardly pulling into a hug. Patting him on the back. “shhhh. It's… it's okay Davey. It's okay. Don't cry.” Davey clung to Max crying harder and wiped his face on Max's shirt. All Max could do is try to comfort him. “shhh it's okay.”

Eventually Davey quieted down. Max gently pushed him back to look at him. “Davey… what's wrong? Why are you crying?” Max tried to keep the panic out of him tone. Tried to be as calming as possible. Davey looked up at him fighting the urge to cry again and Max hugged him again. “is it… why you left?” Davey choked out another sob and nodded into Max's chest. He sniffled. “sh… she died. She’s dead Max.” he started sobbing again. Max's heart rate spiked. “who died? Davey? Who died?” Max held onto his shoulder in front of himself. Trying to get his attention. “who died Davey?” Davey hiccuped through trying to talk. “nana. My nana is gone.”

Max pulled Davey back into his chest and held him tight, letting Davey cry. “Davey im sorry. I'm so sorry. I know it has to be hard. I guess you were close?” He nodded and Max rubbed circles on his back. “I’m sorry Davey. But… you have to understand you can't run away. I know it's hard but… i'm sure your parents are worried Davey.” Davey shook his head. “No? What do you mean no?” Davey looks up at him red faced with streaming tears. “she… she was all i had Max. I.. i… woke up and she wasn't up yet… and she never got up… and and… I didn't know what to do. So i left…”

Max bit back some tears of his own and hugged Davey again. He laid them both down and just held Davey until they both fell asleep.


	3. Wal-Mart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max takes Davey shopping for kid stuff.

Max wakes up the next morning with a stiff back and Davey still clinging tightly to his chest. He stares down at the poofy red hair and freckled face and thinks about the whole situation. What the hell is he going to do with this kid. God.. He can't just dump him with cps. Max knows well enough what kind of trap that is. He can't in good conscious, what little Max may have, do that to the kid. He certainly can't just put him on the streets. He's got no family to stay with. God he can only imagine what kind of shit the little migraine is actually going through right now. Shit if Max the only adult he could think to go to, that's gotta show how out of options this kid really is. What a shit hand he was dealt. And how the hell did he even get here? Where did thus kid come from. What a fucking trooper. Got what is there to do? It's one thing to take care of a group of kids when someone else is there helping and telling you what to do.. But Max barely has his shit together enough to take care of himself alone. Let alone this sad little bastard. 

Max felt himself getting worked up and one or two bastard tears fight their way past his waterline and down his cheek. He hugs Davey closer to himself. Davey stirs awake and looks up at Max. “Maxwell… why are you crying?” Max snorts his composure backs to his face shoves Davey to the floor. “I'm not crying.” with that Max sits up and stretches, cracking his neck and back in the process. “ Now go clean yourself up, we got shit to do.” Davey stood and dusted himself off before trotting off to the bathroom. 

Davey left feeling slightly more refreshed. Max was leaning against the back of the couch waiting for him. He had changed out of the dirty pollo shirt from the day before and into what looked like a promotional t-shirt from some “hip pizza joint”. “You ready to head out, runt?” He casually glanced back to Davey, twirling keys around his finger. Davey nodded as he uncertainty made his way to stand next to Max. “where are we going, Maxwell?” Max spoke as he lead Davey out the door and to his car with a hand lightly guiding his by the shoulder. “Well, you've been here going on three days now and God knows how long it took you to even get here. I figure you probably need some shit if you plan on staying here… for… an amount of time…” 

Max feels awkward… Unsure. He's getting in too deep. Getting far too attached and far too proactive of this kid he barely knows. But he can't just put him on the streets. Definitely can't stick him in foster care. And he can't just let some filthy unkempt child roam hid already messy apartment. He the parking lot before opening the door for Davey and takes his own place in the driver's seat. 

The short drive to the nearest Walmart is mostly pretty silent aside from the occasional attempt at small talk on Davey’s part. Max didn't really mean to ignore him. But he was pretty well lost in thought at how to go about the whole situation. Davey seemed a tad dejected buy tried not to be too bothered by it. 

When they arrived at the Wal-Mart and stepped out of Mac’s beat up car, Max suddenly felt self conscious about being seen out in public with this child he was obviously not related to. He felt judgemental eyes follow him in the store. He knew logically that they probably weren't there. Or maybe they were. Who knows. Max knows he probably doesn't present himself as someone most would want to care for their child. But nerves aside, Davey needed … kid stuff. Pants and cereal. And stuff… he'll figure it out. 

Max was pulled out of his train of thought by a little hand grabbing for his. He looked down at Davey, mild irritation being his first reaction. “what the hell are you doing?” He pulled his hand forward out of Davey’s. Davey frowned up at him. “you're supposed to hold my hand in a parking lot, Maxwell. Safety first.” He tried to grab at his hand again. Max held his hand in the air out of Davey’s reach. “Davey, you made it all the way to my place without holding anyone's hand. I'm pretty sure you can manage a walmart parking lot.” Davey frowned and stopped walking. Max looked back at him when he realized Davey was no longer behind him. He groaned in annoyance. “Come on Davey. Don't pull this shit right now. Get over here.” Davey crossed his arms still standing in the middle of the parking lot. Max growled in the back of his throat and strode back to Davey, firmly gripping his wrist and pulled him along. “you're too fucking old for this shit, Davey.” Davey whined at the unnecessary roughness and tripped trying to keep up with the man's long strides. When the two breached the threshold of the automatic doors and stepped out of the entrance way, Max dropped Davey’ s wrist. “There. Were out of the fucking parking lot. You happy now?” He looked down at Davey to see him rubbing his wrist looking like he was holding back the urge to cry. Max felt a sharp pang of guilt and swallowed a lump in his throat. He… hadn't realized he’d been so rough. He stared for a moment. He didn't he any visible marks… that's good. He rubbed the back of his neck casually, looking around to see if anyone was watching, then looked back to Davey. He reached down to take Davey’s hand again before grabbing a shopping cart and heading to the children's clothing isle. “Come on, runt.” Davey nodded, following close beside him. 

Max looked at Davey, at his dirty yellow shirt and green shorts. His shoes looked pretty beat up too. He ran a hand along a sack of t-shirts and picked out a few. He told Davey to pick out some things. Max liked the one that had a stick figure holding a match and had “trouble maker” in a hand written-esque font. Davey picked out a forest great flannel shirt. Max also Picked up some shorts and jeans and a snapback that said fire across it in bold letters. They had almost left the aisle before Max remember that David might also need socks and underwear. While he sent David to pick up whatever he might need he also made a mental note of what else baby might need. Toothbrush,toothpaste, shit he can make on his own, like pizza rolls. Maybe some kid shampoo and soap so he doesn't smell too adult?? He'll figure it out. Eventually the two made their way to the checkout line. The basket in his arms getting close to uncomfortable to Lug around with only one hand, the other still held captive by a needy preteen. Standing in line around all the other waiting patrons made him nervous his hands got sweaty he scanned the backs of the heads in front of him and peaked behind him. He reassures himself internally,”you're not doing anything wrong, you're doing the right thing he needs you. Besides, nobody even cares. No one stopped him walking alone to find you. How long was even walking for? Just stop acting suspicious.” He almost jumped when he felt Davey gently tug on his hand, bringing attention to the Gap of line front of him. He said his basket on the conveyor and neatly emptied it out for the cashier. “Act normal. Act normal. It's not a big deal.” He kept thinking to himself until they got to the counter. Cashier looked tired but smile before she spoke. Did you find everything alright? Max nodded. “Yeah thanks” he smiled back politely.”who ya shoppin for?” She continued casually trying to make conversation as she scanned all these Obvious Child Things. Max swallowed thickly plopping out a half certain "buhhh... My nephew. I'm watching him for a bit" she's smiling again " well he's a lucky fella to have such a nice Uncle to run out and buy him new clothes and everything" Max scratch the back of his neck anxiously " haha yeah, well my sister was... In a hurry and couldn't pack, but it's fine " after she finished scanning, she peaked over the counter innocently curious about the topic of conversation. " well he still lucky to have you " Max of consciously stepped in front of Davey . He noticed your eyebrow raised just a hair, but she made no further indication of question. " that would be $67.43. " "alright" Max Paid and grabbed the three bags in one hand and Davey’s hand in the other and headed out to his car. " thank you very much for the clothes, Maxwell." Davey smiled up at Max and he smiled back distractedly. " yeah no prob, runt " He set the bags down to pull out his keys. He pointed at Davey before unlocking the door. " let's go with Uncle Max when in public." Davey nodded "All right Uncle Max" Max cringed tossing the bags behind his seat " nope. Scratch that. That sounds way worse. Just Max." Davey Shrugged as Max walked into the other side of the car. Max open and close the door for him before taking his seat and driving away.


	4. What next

When they got home, Max dropped the bags on the counter. “ Alright Davey, you should probably go shower. You’re starting to get that kid smell everywhere.” Davey nodded and collected a fresh outfit from the plastic bags and headed to the bathroom. “There are some towels under the sink!” Max called to him from the kitchen. “ Thank you Maxwell!” Davey yelled back as he closed the bathroom door and set his new outfit on the toilet tank lid. He knelt to rummage through the cabinet under the sink, finding extra toilet paper, some empty and half empty bottles of various soap products, some… adult looking reading material, and three old looking bath towels. Davey picked a stained olive green towel off the top of the stack and placed it neatly on his clean pile of clothes. 

While davey showered, max put away the contents of the grocery bags. Safely stowing the milk, poptarts, pizza pockets, and other “kid foods”, in their proper places in the kitchen.He empties the drawer under his side table, discreetly hiding the contents under the bed in a shoe box, and threw the remaining clothes in the box and slid the box and Davey's knock off converse back under the side table. He stepped back, taking in his room and ignoring crushing anxiety of the whole situation. Though something more recently present nagged at the back of his head that he forgot to get something, though he couldn't quite place it. All the bags were definitely empty and he's certain he didn't leave anything in his car. Oh well, it would come to him if it was actually important.

Davey had already undressed and stepped under the warm sprey of the shower head when looked around the small shower at the two bottles of soap, one labeled “Axe musk of the wild” and the other “ Aussie curl define and volume” when something dawned on him. Max had definitely said something about getting some “kid soap”. He was pretty sure they did not get any kid soap. Maybe him saying he wanted to get Davey his own soap meant he might get upset if he used maxs soap. Shouldn't hurt to ask max and make sure. 

Max sat up on the couch from where he was comfortably slouching and scrolling social media on his phone when he heard his name being called from the bathroom. He groaned. Can’t this kid do anything by himself? “Yeah?!” He called back but was only met with his name again. “Maxwell?!” he groaned louder, standing up and heading towards the bathroom door. “WHat do you need, Davey?” He leaned close to the door and cringed away at the too loud reply. “Can you bring me my shampoo and soap?!” Max stepped back, he must not have known max was already at the door. Wait… “goddamnit!” Suddenly max realized what exactly he was forgetting. “I forgot to grab it at the store! Just use my stuff for now!” He heard an indifferent “alright” and headed back to the living room. He sat their scrolling through various websites but not really paying attention. It was just a familiar motion in front of him while he thought about the only thing he's really thought about since Sunday morning. What the hell is he going to do about Davey? If he's honest with himself, he really doesn't want to give him up. He knows it’s not really his place, but the idea of not knowing what happens to the kid makes his stomach churn. That being said, he is fully aware that he can barely support himself, let alone a growing child, soon to be teenager, on a retail income. But he could probably find something at a plant that pays well enough if he had to. As far as… legally… he'll have to figure that one out. Can't get him into school without documentation, and he certainly can't home school him like his nana did… well.. there's an idea there… not a solid idea. But it's there.

Davey left the bathroom feeling refreshed and smelling much more mature, in Davey' s opinion at least. Max stood up when he noticed Davey enter the room. "Go get your shoes on,runt. They're under the side table." Davey nodded and ran off to do as he was told. Max was already standing at the door when he got back. "Where are we going now, Maxwell?" Max locked the door and spoke as He lead Davey back to his car. "Well, I need you to put your old address into my phone. I gotta figure out exactly what we're going to do here. Figured that's a good place to start." Max and Davey were both seated in their respective front seats when Max handed Davey his phone, Google max already open. Davey frowned at the phone in his hands. "You do know the address, right? I mean, you remembered well enou-" " I know it." Davey cut him off with a soft yet curt affirmation, but still just stared at the phone. "Davey?" Max leaned a bit closer in his seat and gently grasped one of Davey's shoulders. "You okay, bud?" Max swallowed trying to dampen his suddenly dry mouth. "I...i know you're probably still upset about… what happened… But it's very important that we go there as soon as possible and figure out what to do." Dave's lip quivered but he tried to maintain his composure. He looked down at his shoes as he spoke. He couldn't look at Max right now. "I know...and I am upset about nana. But that's not the only reason I don't wanna go back…"he was partially mumbling and Max had to strain to hear him. He took three long even breaths to steady himself. "I know you… need to get rid off me… b.but I'm scared what. I don't know what's going to happen to me… and I dON'T WANT TO GO YET." His face was flushed red and his eyes were weepy. Max could feel his chest clench tight. He gripped the wheel tight at arms length and stared at the ceiling of the car for a long moment before going lax with a long sigh and looked back to davey. His forest green eyes were pleading. Max slowly pulled the boy into a loose hug. "Davey… I'm going to do everything I can to make sure this works out for you, okay?" Davey looked out the window behind Max and nodded. Max pulled away to look at him. "Okay… so I need your address. That way I can see about finding some paperwork. Or something. I honestly don't know exactly what I'm looking for. But this is probably our best bet." Davey nodded again and typed the information into Google maps and set the phone in the cupholder in the center console. Max did a double take when he saw the do it to Davey's old address then turned to Davey."Are you sure that's the right place?" He nodded. "Jesus Davey! This is like this is like four hours away! How the hell did you get here by yourself?!" Davey shrugged. "I just followed road signs and asked for rides and directions the people who stopped to ask if I was okay." Max gawked in disbelief. "Yet you need to hold your hand in the damn… you.. Jesus Davey. It's a miracle you weren't murdered and left in a ditch. No… no more hitchhiking! Shits dangerous." Max pulled out of the parking lot and started out on their mini impromptu road trip.


	5. Home sweet home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max is on the hunt for any kind of paperwork he can find. after all, possession is 3/4 of the law, right? meanwhile davey is having to face his old home and all the emotions that come with it.

After about five minutes or so of a thick uncomfortable silence, Max turned on Spotify, defaulting to his personal playlist which consisted mostly of rap,metal, and some classic rock.Davey didn't seem to mind and eventually dozed off. His head lulled softly to either side when Max would take a turn. Still, he remained fast asleep for almost three hours of straight driving.he only awoke when max gently shook his shoulder upon pulling into a drive thru. After a quick lunch of chicken nuggets and fries, they continued back on the road. Davey remained awake for the rest of the hour leading to his old homeAbout thirty minutes before reaching their destination, Davey began recognizing various landmarks.Many fond memories of his grandmother flooded his mind. He couldn't ignore the warm familiarity up until he watched the entrance to his grandmother's estate slowly approach. In growing panic, he shut his eyes and could only focus on the sound of gravel crunching under car tires. He felt the soft tug of gravity when the car parked. He didn't open his eyes until he felt Max gently grip his shoulder. “Hey buddy. You okay?” Davey took a long shakey inhale and released the breath slowly to still his buzzing nerves. All the boy could manage in response was a nod.

It was far more rural an area than Max had imagined. He looked around for the nearest sign of life. It was probably a good five miles away that he could see the nearest neighbor in either direction. That being said, the large rancher style house was very nice. I looked old, but still much more impressive than he expected. The lawn was full but was pale green and looked dry. The silver pontiac in the driveway had a thick layer of dust on it. It was most likely Davey’s Grandmother’s, but can’t be too safe. Max got out of the car and walked around to open the passenger side door for davey. He clearly didn't want to get out of the car just yet, but followed behind Max regardless. Max took Davey's hand to lead him around, first inspecting the car and then the perimeter of the house. “Maxwell… Why are we just walking around the house?” Max shushed him as he peeked inside the windows. “Im checking to see if anyone is home...I don’t know… really what to expect.” Davey rolled his eyes and tugged max’s hand in the direction of the front door. “Jeez. It’s my house, you know?. We can just go inside whenever we want.” Max went dumb and let himself be lead to the door. “I… hadn’t thought about that i guess…” Davey tried the lock to no avail. “Do you remember if you had locked the door when you left?” Davey furrowed his brows and shrugged, “N..No i don’t think i did… I just left…” Max tried the door knob more out of habit than anything. Shockingly it was still very much locked. Max wore a concerned expression and looked over his shoulder suspiciously. “Well then someone must have been here since you left. Wonder why no one’s contacted the police or anything. Shit maybe they have. We better make this trip quick and keep an ear out for cars, alright?” Davey nodded. Max sighed before fishing out a few bobby pins from his pocket and knelt in front of the door to fiddle with the lock. Davey raised an eyebrow and picked up a rock from the bottom of the porch steps to reveal a spare key. “Pardon me, Maxwell.” Max stepped aside for Davey. “Nana would forget her house keys a lot so I started keeping the spare under that rock. I still don't know why she didn't just keep them on the same ring as her car key.” Max ruffled Davey’s hair with a proud grin as he took the key. “Way to go, runt.” Before he entered, he pressed his ear to the door to listen for activity. Davey rolled his eyes and took the keys back from Max and entered his home,pulling Max behind him.

Max stood in the entry way for a moment, just watching Davey. Davey stopped a few feet in and stared back at Max, waiting. “Maxell?” Max followed behind Davey, looking around in interest at the home around him. It was a living room. It was very evident that this house belonged to an old lady. The dusty box t.v with doily and fake flowers, all the furniture had hand crochet afghans, the unmistakable musk of old people. It was… kind of nice It made Max slightly envious that he never really had a relationship with his grandparents, growing up. There were lots of nicely framed pictures and Davey and a very sweet looking older woman. They both looked so happy. It wasn’t hard to see why the kid was so broken up about losing this woman. “So what are we looking for, Maxwell?” Max continues through the quiet dusty house, absently snooping as he spoke. “Uh… I’m honestly not really sure. Some kind of legal documents… like a birth certificate.. Orrrr… i don’t really know… Shit I should probably have looked more into this before committing to this long as road trip. But I didn't so well just have to figure it out. Did your Nana have like… a home office or a filing cabinet or anything like that?” Davey nodded. “It’s upstairs in her craft room." Davey took his hand and led him upstairs. There were more pictures of Davey and his Nana lining the stairwell. He felt like he was learning about Davey with every image. Like a shared memory. Her kind smile and thin white hair pulled neatly into a bun. She looked about as much like a grandma as any Norman Rockwell painting would want you to imagine. So many Pictures of her and Davey at parks, and on a lake. She seemed pretty active for a woman her age. Pretty impressive honestly. Max was startled from his train of thought when he bumped into Davey who was still in front of a door. The first door on the right of a relatively long hallway. “ is this the Craft room?” Davey didn’t respond so Max nudged him gently. “Davey?” His pale face looked grimm. It took him a long moment to respond. Max almost tried again to get his attention but was cut off by Davey;s response to his original question. “No… It’s… Nana’s room…the craft room is over there…” Davey gestured to the door just across from her bedroom. Max could tell Davey was upset. He patted his back reassuringly. “Hey uh… how's about you go get some of your stuff from your room. Make my place a bit more homey? Grab some toys and what not. Yeah?” Davey perked up, if only slightly and nodded before heading off down the hallway to another room. With that, max went into the room Davey pointed him to.Sure enough, this was the Craft room of an old lady. Lots of yard and fabric and pictures of Davey and angels and Jesus and bible quotes. Going through the various drawers of a large filing cabinet, he mostly found fabric and sewing notions and paint. Eventually he found the drawer he was looking for. He snooped through each folder and file, finding old bills and receipts, sapiatone pictures of who he assumed were her family members.Eventually he found a folder labeled “David R. Sullivan” It held his birth certificate, social security card, health records, and various official looking documents. This might be able to get him into school. Maybe. He tucked the folder into his shirt and into the rim of the back of his jeans. He wandered the hallway until he found Davey in a room, filling a large backpack with his things. “Hey, runt.” Davey looked back at Max and smiled. “Hello, Maxwell. Did you find what you needed?” Max nodded. “Yeah i hope so. Probably the best i can do for now.” He sat down on the twin bed against the wall. “So whatcha got there?” Davey dumped the contents of the over sized back on the floor at Max’s feet and reported each item as he neatly repacked it into the bag. “Just my favorite blanket, my moose, my pillow, some clothes, aaand my piggy bank.” Max nodded. “ didn’t you want to bring any toys? I’m sure you get bored at my place while im at work.” Davey took a moment to think. He did have a deck of cards, some lincoln logs, play dough, some bored games and a hoolahoop. Davey nodded and stood to collect some toys. Max piped up when he say the play dough. “Hey bud, why don't you leave that? It's probably dried up. I'll pick you up some fresh stuff on the way home.” Davey nodded and Max took the bag from him as they headed down stairs and out to the car. Max set the bags in the back seat and looked back to see Davey locking the front door and hide it under the same rock as earlier. 

They both took their respective seats in the front seats and settled in for the equally long drive back home. After the house disappeared from the rearview window, the two shared a sight, but for different reasons. Oddly enough the four hour drive back felt shorter than the dive there, but it was still well into the night by the time the comforting image of Max’s shady little apartment complex graced their weary eyes. They were both physically and emotionally drained from the excursion. The very real stress of the situation, from having a non-relative child in his home and what was more or less trespassing weighed heavy on Max. Though he refused to feel like he stole from that house. All of that stuff did belong to Davey and Davey has a right to retrieve it. Though he could not ignore how sketchy the whole situation felt to him. Davey also had a heavy weight on his mind. He was not nearly ready to confront that house so soon after what took place there…. But one thing was for sure. They were both so physically drained from eight hours in a car to think too hard on either situation. Max passed out as soon as his head hit the pillow. Davey watched Max lay unconscious and face down in the pillow for a moment before collapsing beside him. He laid there, he felt cold… he felt alone. He needed comforting… he curled himself close to Max and carefully stole one heavy limp arm from under Max’s pillow and draped it over his own shoulder. It helped more than he’d imagined. He felt safe and soon drifted to sleep. Max cracked open one heavy eyelid, feeling his arm being moved, mentally shrugged and went back to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry Chapters take so long. Not gonna lie, i only really update when people tell me they want it. hope you like more of my silly shit. this chapter i do think is a little more heavy than some of the others. sorry bout that.


End file.
